| I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. |
| —Isaiah 42:16 |
My parents used to remind me of the statement I made as a toddler, when I sat next to my dad as we drove through the foggy landscape: “Daddy, I like sog.” I don’t quite know what made me say that. Although, I guess a picture of the world in the mist can appeal to us at times.
However, as an adult, I know now that driving in thick fog no longer holds the fascination it did for me at age three. Fog makes us slow down and sometimes hinders us from our travel. When we drive where we cannot see, danger can lurk. Sometimes having a car ahead of us with good strong rear lights helps—as long as that driver stays on the road!
Life can sometimes seem like we’re walking through a thick fog. We become easily confused and lost. We wonder where we are going. If we look around, we cannot clearly see from where we came. Looking off to the left, or off to the right, doesn’t help us in any way. We are surrounded by confusion. Each step seems treacherous to us.
When surrounded by the “fog” of life’s confusion, we should be heartened by the knowledge that our God guides us in the paths of life and leads us to places we can trust. But what of the days when we feel that we can neither see nor hear Him? What do we do then?
Do we keep walking in the fog anyway? Do we slow our pace? Do we look carefully before we take each step? Do we peer out into the darkness? Do we whisper a prayer for help?
Perhaps, if we can just catch a glimmer of God’s will for us, we will be able to move very cautiously ahead. But, if that glimmer eludes us, if some days we cannot see even our spiritual hand in front of our face, then we must just stop and wait until God lifts the soupy haze that obstructs our view.
Have you ever had to pull to the side of the road until the fog lifted? When a spiritual fog descends into our lives, perhaps we should just pull over and wait for God to lift that spiritual fog? Making this frustrating choice actually develops our trust in Him. We must believe that He wills us to rest in His loving omniscience. We must believe that the spiritual fog will eventually lift and we will see clearly again to follow our God and move along the pathway He is providing.
One of my favorite allegories, Hinds’ Feet On High Places,¹ written by the author Hannah Hurnard, tells the story of little “Much-Afraid” on the journey she set out upon after meeting the “Shepherd.” While He assigned to her some companions to go along, she encountered many other characters that did all they could to hinder her on the way.
At one point in the story, little “Much-Afraid” found herself in a thick mist:
Now there was nothing but tameness, just a trudge, trudge forward, day after day, able to see nothing except for white, clinging mist which hung about the mountains without a gleam of sunshine breaking through. At last she burst out impatiently, “Will this dull, dreary mist never lift, I wonder?”
Little “Much-Afraid” then heard the voices of “Resentment,” “Self-Pity,” and “Bitterness,” who said to her:
“Trudge, trudge, day after day, nothing to show for it, and you ought to be getting up onto the High Places.”
One afternoon, she walked along all muddy, wet, and bedraggled. She decided to sing a little song. As she sang, the “Shepherd” appeared and sang along. As they talked together, she told Him all about the wanderings in the mist and how the voices suggested she had wandered from the path and lost her way. It was then that He said to her:
“Did you really think that I would let you stray from the right path to the High Places without doing anything to warn you or to prevent it? … You had better become a singer,” He said smiling. “Then you won’t hear what they say to you.”
Finally, He said to her, “Do you love me enough to be able to trust me completely, Much-Afraid?” … She faltered, “You know that I love you and that I long to trust you as much as I love you, that I long both to love and trust you still more.”
We can learn from this little episode in Hannah Hurnard’s book. Our Lord commonly takes care of all those who love Him and long to climb nearer to Him, as they travel through the fog and mist of the sinfulness of our dark world. He sees us wherever we are.
God finds us when we feel we are lost. He directs us, even while we struggle. He longs to hear us sing to Him, despite our doubts and fears. Through our puzzling paths ahead, may we learn to trust the God who loves us with His unfailing love and not be afraid.
| 1 Hurnard, Hannah. Hinds’ Feet On High Places. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1977. Pp.156-169. |
